As I mentioned in a previous post, Leah and I decide to follow a tradition started by my parents to take turns planning a surprise trip for our anniversary. After a long drive on Wednesday, Leah and I arrived in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

I made plans for us to visit Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s theme park. I had absolutely no idea how many entertainment options Pigeon Forge had to offer. As we drove through town on the way to our hotel, we both commented how much the area looked like a beach town. There were wax museums, putt-putt golf courses, outlet malls, hotels, dinner theatres, and a dancing plethora of pancake houses. There was even a museum inside of a Titanic replica. Keep in mind, this is all in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The amount of tourist traps were overwhelming.

Our first day in Pigeon Forge, we visited Dollywood’s Splash Country. It was a beautiful day to be at the waterpark, as it was in the 90s and sunny most of the day. We enjoyed many waterslides and the wave pool. I even jumped over a fence to get a four-leaf clover that Leah had found.

I made dinner reservations for that night at Lumberjack Feud. Lumberjack Feud is a dinner theater that stars champion ESPN lumberjacks. The show was very interesting and aside from some corny jokes, very entertaining. The most impressive part was when two lumberjacks shimmied up 90 foot poles, and came back down by practically free falling before digging their feet into the pole right before hitting the ground, all in a matter of seconds.

Our last full day in Pigeon Forge, we visited Dollywood. This park had the perfect balance of roller coasters and shows. When I purchased the tickets, I planned on spending most of our time at the shows because of Leah’s coaster-phobia. However, I was impressed by how many roller coasters she actually wanted to ride. She said that I caught her on a brave day.

While in the park, we saw a few small shows. One of the most impressive was the Gazillion Bubble Show with “bubble artist” Ana Yang. As funny as it might sound, Ms. Yang used her bubbling techniques to entertain and amuse a full theater. Leah and I found ourselves laughing and jumping out of our seats to pop fog-filled bubbles. We also enjoyed a stunt dog show and a bluegrass band. Leah won a free Moonpie and Coke from an acapella 60s group.

Those few days were fun and relaxing for Leah and me. From there, we traveled to Oxford, Mississippi to visit our great friends Devon and Noelani Newburn. We will post more on our time in Mississippi soon!